Keswick to Penrith update

[John_Hughes]

It's truly a smashing run along the coast; SWMBO and I did it about ten days ago (for the first time ever, to my shame) and it exceeded my expectations. And some interesting locos at Sellafield, too.

 

A trolley service would have been nice....

[melmerby]

It's pity a bit more use couldn't be made of the coast line.

Unfortunately the Northern end (Whitehaven-Carlisle) has a pretty good competing bus service and some of the stations aren't in the most convenient places.

Wigton is on the edge of the town as is Workington, with buses serving the centre of both places.

 

Keith

Edited April 14, 2015 by melmerby

[ozzyo]

Workington did have a railway station in the centre of town but this line did not serve Moss Bay steel works, I'm not sure it that line served Whitehaven as well.

 

OzzyO.

[melmerby]

Workington did have a railway station in the centre of town but this line did not serve Moss Bay steel works, I'm not sure it that line served Whitehaven as well.

 

OzzyO.

Workington Central on the Cleator and Workington Junction railway

It's now a road (Central Way appropriately) and a car park although it's origins are clear:

 

http://goo.gl/maps/dnQ3b

http://goo.gl/maps/2oOtw

 

The line sort of petered out south of Workington as a passenger line becoming part of a network of mineral railways.

 

Keith

[Reorte]

It's pity a bit more use couldn't be made of the coast line.

Although of course people were thankful it was there in the Workington flooding. Personally I think someone missed a trick there - "Bus replacement train" would've been a great opportunity.

[miketaylor]

I think it would be great to have the Keswick line back.

Is it going to happen ?

1/ Been closed for 50 years without any problems.

2/ Taxi's and buses from Penrith and Keswick.

3/ A66 runs fine any time of year barring accidents.

4/ Some of the route is now blocked so avoiding that would cost a fortune.

5/ Spend a £100 million on it while some people are starving due to cuts ? 

6/ Not a large population to serve. And what there is has one or more cars each.

7/ Windermere takes all the rail traffic into the lakes.

8/ Local council not supporting it and allowed breaches of track bed over time.

I dont think it happen in my life time.

 

 

[melmerby]

6 hours ago, miketaylor said:

I think it would be great to have the Keswick line back.

Is it going to happen ?

1/ Been closed for 50 years without any problems.

2/ Taxi's and buses from Penrith and Keswick.

3/ A66 runs fine any time of year barring accidents.

4/ Some of the route is now blocked so avoiding that would cost a fortune.

5/ Spend a £100 million on it while some people are starving due to cuts ? 

6/ Not a large population to serve. And what there is has one or more cars each.

7/ Windermere takes all the rail traffic into the lakes.

8/ Local council not supporting it and allowed breaches of track bed over time.

I dont think it happen in my life time.

 

 

Having lived in Keswick for 8 years

1/ debatable

2/ Taxis are expensive and the buses aren't good outside peak hours

3/ Gets congested in busy periods and occasionally disrupted by weather e.g. flooding or snow/ice

4/ This was taken into account with Cedric Martindale's projections

5/ That is a political comment

6/ It would help reduce car use, people use cars because of lack of public transport

7/ Obviously! But it's miles from Keswick on a poor road. (A591)

8/ All councils nominally support it but Eden District Council allowed development at Flusco and at various farms along the route.

I don't think it will happen at all.

 

 

[caradoc]

This is a line which should never have closed, but as miketaylor says since it was, much of the route has been lost. And I would have to ask, if the traffic nowadays cannot support a decent bus service outside the peaks, how would it support building (effectively) a new railway ? 

 

[MarkC]

5 hours ago, caradoc said:

This is a line which should never have closed, but as miketaylor says since it was, much of the route has been lost. And I would have to ask, if the traffic nowadays cannot support a decent bus service outside the peaks, how would it support building (effectively) a new railway ? 

 

And that, ladies & gentlemen, boys & girls, is, sadly, the bottom line...

 

Mark

[melmerby]

7 hours ago, caradoc said:

This is a line which should never have closed, but as miketaylor says since it was, much of the route has been lost. And I would have to ask, if the traffic nowadays cannot support a decent bus service outside the peaks, how would it support building (effectively) a new railway ? 

 

I think the National park have also given up on any idea of it opening as when the bridges got washed out and detroyed in the storm, the replacements were clearly not designed for trains.

Previously the original ones were intended to be refurbished and the Keswick Railway Path moved.

 

As regards the bus, many a time Swmbo & I would go into Penrith by bus and come back late evening and be the only passengers on the X4/X5.

Even the 554 from Keswick to Carlisle via Wigton barely gets full and Carlisle is the "Big (sic) City"

Apart from the local services around the towns, many of the services are underused except if they are covering "touristy" destinations in the holday season.

e.g. 555 Keswick-Lancaster, which has reasonable loadings along much of its route.

Edited May 18, 2021 by melmerby

[Zomboid]

I always say on these threads - forget the old route if it's been built in or breached. It might be a useful starting point, but since the job is to build a brand new railway there's no need to be constrained by Victorian earthworks and alignments. Just start again and build to 21st century standards (which are mandatory anyhow). If you can use any of the old stuff then that's a bonus.